SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 2021
RADIO
Continued from Page 1A
with a dim future.
“Radio may be obsolete
in 10 years,” he said.
It thus does not make
sense for KEOL to con-
tinue operating because
the students working there
would not be developing
skills that would help them
as they pursue careers
after college.
Cahill wants Eastern to
develop a class or club that
would help students develop
disc jockey-related skills
that will be in demand, such
as those needed to produce
a podcast.
Sanchez said it is not
known how many students
tune in to KEOL.
“There is no metric for
tracking how many listen,”
he said.
Eastern’s Student Fee
Committee also made its
allocations based on how
many students a program
attracts.
“We looked at participa-
tion rates,” Sanchez said,
noting that KEOL’s is low.
The committee also
initially did not approve
funding for Eastern’s stu-
dent newspaper, The Voice.
The SFC changed gears
after representatives of The
Voice appealed the decision.
The SFC then voted to pro-
vide the newspaper $7,500,
which is $10,500 short of
THE OBSERVER — 5A
the amount The Voice ini-
tially requested.
Funding for The Voice
was cut because of low pro-
ductivity. Sanchez said that
Eastern published just two
editions in 2020.
“That is not suffi cient,”
Sanchez said.
One of the editions was a
paper one and the other was
online. Cahill said the paper
edition could not be distrib-
uted because of COVID-19
concerns. He added The
Voice’s future editions will
be published online.
KEOL’s leaders, unlike
those at The Voice, did not
appeal the SFC’s decision
to reduce its funds. One
reason may have been that
KEOL’s faculty adviser,
Michael Williams, died in
late 2020. Williams was
the director of the TRiO
Student Support Services
program.
The Observer tried
repeatedly to get a comment
about the SFC’s defunding
decision from a KEOL
representative but no one
returned phone calls.
KEOL’s history dates
back to at least 1973 when
it received its FCC license
to operate, according to
its website. The station
was based in Eastern’s
library from 1976 to 1991.
It was then relocated into
a small building north of
the library. The station was
moved into the Hoke Union
Building in 2015.
QUARRY
Continued from Page 1A
1998. Smejkal about 10
years ago decided to sell
the ranch, West said, and
he wanted to buy it. But
Smejkal, who is turning
83, “doesn’t like to let any-
thing go,” West said, so
they came up with a deal
that he would eventually
buy the property from
Smejkal’s sons.
Except the ranch costs
more than West said he
could afford. The website
Lands of America, which
lists farms and ranches for
sale, shows a $3.7 million
price for the Ponderosa.
West also said the ranch
is not a tourism hotspot,
but rather a special locale
where he sometimes brings
veterans or disabled youth
to hunt. Creating a 250-
acre rock quarry, though,
where Robb’s Hill Road
meets Interstate 84, would
allow him to buy the ranch.
Not because he would
be making money from
the quarry that could
cover the cost of the ranch
but because the quarry
comes with a conserva-
tion easement that would
devalue the Ponderosa. If
the quarry does not get
approval there is no con-
servation easement, West
said, and the days of the
Ponderosa are numbered.
If he can’t buy the
ranch, he said, the owners
will divide the prop-
erty into 240-acre parcels
that anyone can buy and
develop housing on.
“That’s bad,” he said.
“I’m doing everything I
can to prevent that.”
The quarry and the
easement, he said, are the
“long-term plan to protect
this mountain.”
Addressing quarry
concerns
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
A passerby refl ects in the glass of the KEOL radio booth
Friday, March 5, 2021, at Eastern Oregon University, La
Grande. The university’s Student Fee Committee has vot-
ed not to fund KEOL in 2021-22.
CASES
Continued from Page 1A
restrictions are in place
on businesses, dining and
activities.
It was a dose of good
news after a period in
which most of the state had
been in extreme risk at one
point or another.
“For the second time
in a row, we are seeing
great progress in stopping
the spread of COVID-19
across Oregon and saving
lives,” Brown said on Feb.
23.
Of the counties on the
extreme risk rating prior to
Feb. 23, Brown announced
seven had dropped one
step to higher risk: Crook,
Jackson, Lane, Marion,
Polk, Umatilla and Yam-
hill counties. Malheur and
Union dropped to medium,
while Wasco fell all the
way to lower.
Union County’s cases
since Sunday, Feb. 28,
increased from 1,281 to
1,305 as of Friday, March
5, according to the Oregon
Health Authority. The
number of deaths in the
county from the virus
remained at 19.
Wallowa County has
its fi fth fatality this week
from COVID-19. The
Oregon Health Authority
on Thursday morning,
March 4, reported the
death of a 47-year-old man
from the county, who was
among 27 COVID-re-
lated fatalities the OHA
announced in its latest
report. The individual died
on March 2 at Portland’s
Legacy Emanuel Med-
ical Center, according to
the report — more than a
month after testing posi-
tive for COVID-19 on Jan.
25. The man had under-
lying conditions.
Wallowa County has
reported 144 cases of
COVID-19 since the pan-
demic started a year ago.
The fi fth death moves the
fatality rate of confi rmed
cases in the county to 3.5%
— 2.5 times the state rate.
And two more Baker
County residents died
from COVID-19, the
PARTICIPATE IN
THE HEARING
West said he knows well
the concerns locals have
about the quarry, and the
project has taken those
seriously and studied the
Oregon Health Authority
announced Tuesday,
March 2. The deaths bring
the county’s total to nine
during the pandemic.
An 87-year-old Baker
County woman who tested
positive on Feb. 24 died
on Feb. 26 at her home,
according to the OHA. She
had underlying conditions.
And an 88-year-old man
who tested positive on Feb.
24 died on Feb. 26 at his
home. He also had under-
lying conditions, according
to the OHA. Baker Coun-
ty’s case total as of March
5 stood at 673.
The state as of March 5
reported 2,284 COVID-re-
lated deaths out of the
156,673 cases. There also
have now been more than
1 million doses of the
vaccine administered in
Oregon.
Five counties: Benton,
Coos, Douglas, Jefferson
and Josephine remain on
the extreme list.
Risk level adjustments
are made every two weeks.
But measurements are
taken every Friday and

Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Steve West closes the gate to the Ponderosa Ranch
property Thursday, March 4, 2021. The ranch, which in-
cludes a rock quarry near Perry, spans 4,885 acres in the
skyline above La Grande.
right — and wrong —
ways to build and operate
a rock quarry. The 400-
plus pages of the project’s
application to the county,
he said, goes through the
numerous issues.
“We’ve addressed them
all,” he emphasized.
The company studied
berms at other quarries,
for example, to understand
how to dampen the noise at
the pit.
“If you hear it, it will be
a hum in the far distance,”
he said.
The location of the
quarry near Interstate
84 has to meet Oregon
Department of Trans-
portation’s mandates for
dust control. He said there
would be plenty of water
on site to manage dust and
they could bring in water
trucks as well.
“We are committed in
our business plan to dust
mitigation at the highest
levels,” West said.
The project is to expand
the small, 15-acre quarry
now at the site, he said, but
expanding the pit to 250
acres will take a long time.
“It could be a hundred
years before we get to the
top of the hill,” West said,
when the quarry would be
visible from Perry.
While people from
La Grande won’t be able
to see it, drivers on I-84
would.
“But,” West said, “it’s
not going to be as big an
analyzed each Monday.
The numbers are published
weekly, with the period
between reassignments
called “the warning week.”
With the next assign-
ment of risk levels set to be
announced March 9 and go
into effect March 12, state
offi cials evidently saw
some counties trending
back up to extreme risk.
Brown’s offi ce did not
say what counties were of
concern. The “warning
week” numbers indi-
cate trends, but the fi nal
status would be deter-
mined adding in the as-yet
unknown statistics of this
week through Friday.
Among those that
dropped out of the extreme
risk category but are
showing a reverse in trends
eyesore as people think.”
He also said the project
has some local support,
and Union Pacifi c Railroad
is willing to get on board.
The railroad in Sep-
tember 2019 sent West a
letter stating it reviewed
the request from Universal
Exports Limited, the com-
pany out of Bozeman,
Montana, seeking rail ser-
vice for the pit. Union
Pacifi c reported it was
“pleased to notify you that
we are looking forward to
working with you on devel-
oping new rail service to
this location.”
Union Pacifi c also
stated it was moving for-
ward with track authoriza-
tion based on the concep-
tual plan and as long as the
project can meet certain
requirements, including
the design and installa-
tion of track and powered
switches that meet UPRR
standards.
Making
improvements
West said this project
for more than two years
has spent “hundreds of
thousands of dollars and
hundreds of man hours”
to make sure the quarry is
done the right way.
That includes meeting
the Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife’s mit-
igation requirement to
improve 250 acres of wil-
derness as an offset for
during the warning week
are Jackson and Malheur
counties. Among medium
and small counties, Baker
showed an increase in
cases and infection rate.
Less clear is the status
of Marion County, which
includes the state capital of
Salem. It has seen a mod-
erate upswing in numbers.
State health offi cials and
the governor will make the
fi nal decisions based on
the most recent data.
The drop in infections
was part of the recent
good news that has seen
overall new infections
down after winter holiday
period highs. A third vac-
cine, made by Johnson &
Johnson, has arrived in
the state and the fi rst 100
doses sent to each county,
The Union County Plan-
ning Commission is
holding a public hearing
Monday, March 8, at
7 p.m. via teleconference
to consider approving the
application for a quarry at
Robbs Hill Road and Inter-
state 84 near Perry. To
listen to or participate in
the hearing, call 253-215-
8782 or 669-900-6833 and
enter meeting identifi ca-
tion No. 995 6180 8582.
the quarry. That mitiga-
tion, West said, is at the top
Mount Emily in what he
described as “uber critical”
elk habitat. The work has
involved tree thinning and
the installation of lay-down
fencing, which is easy to
erect to contain cattle that
graze the area May 15 to
Aug. 1.
“We use the cattle as a
tool to prevent catastrophic
wildfi re,” West said. “My
intention is to do this
project for the long-term
betterment of the wildlife.”
West said he even would
be willing to take anyone
up there to show them
the work that has gone
into mitigating the quarry
proposal.
Laying it all out
The debate over the
quarry gets a public airing
at the Union County
Planning Commission’s
meeting March 8 to con-
sider approving the project.
West said he of course will
attend over the phone as
will other supporters to
plead for approval. The
opposition also will get to
make a case.
If the county decides
to nix the deal, West and
his side could appeal to
the Oregon Land Use
Board of Appeals. West
said that would cost more
money and require another
attorney and could take
years for a decision. In that
scenario, West said, his
side would take a hard
look and see if the fight
would be worth the cost.
with a total of 34,000
expected to immediately
follow.
But there was cau-
tionary news as well. Two
potentially more virulent
and easier to spread ver-
sions of the virus showed
up in Oregon.
— EO Media Group staff
contributed to this article.
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